Atlanta's most trusted buyers of precious metals share their tips and insights for buying and selling gold silver and diamonds in today's marketplace.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Fancy Colored Diamonds

With so many stones out in the market, we mostly associate diamonds with the clear and sparkly nature that they are most known for. In fact, when determining the quality and value of a diamond, it is graded on a color scale, where less color generally equals a better quality. (of course there are other factors including cut, clarity and carat to consider as well) .

And while colorless diamonds may be the most well known, they are just one type of diamonds exist. Fancy Color diamonds are another category. Although these color-filled diamonds are out there, they are very rare and thus usually fetch much higher prices.

Unlike the clear diamonds, colored ones are graded on a different scale. No longer does "colorless" mean better quality. The value of natural colored diamonds is determined by the vivid nature and light from the stones. The more intense color, the more valuable a stone will be.

So, what is the difference between these fancy colored diamonds and other precious gemstones such as emeralds, ruby's and saphires? The colored diamonds contain carbon. That is the determining factor.

Here is a look at some of colors you can find in natural colored diamond.

Red Diamond: The rarest of them all. Most jewelers will never even come across these treasures in their lifetime.Orange Diamonds: Another rare breed of diamonds. The one pictured below was worn by Halle Berry at the 2002 academy awards.

photo credit: Sotheby's

Green Diamonds: Check out this scale that show's the varying range of green colors you can find.

Pink Diamonds: Today, the brightest pink natural diamonds come from Argyle Diamond Mine in Western Australia. There are a variety of shades but no matter what you choose, the price is going to be high for these beauties.

Yellow Diamonds: These are slightly more common than some of the other fancy colored diamonds.

http://www.gia.edu/fancycoloreddiamond-quality-factor

Blue Diamonds: Natural blue diamonds are formed by the concentration of boron in the bonding of the atoms. Click here to see some amazing creations made with the fancy colored-diamonds.

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Atlanta Gold and Silver talks about precious metals ( including gold silver and platinum), coins and diamonds. Our blog will provide interesting information on the metal market, tips on selling and buying and other fun tidbits.